October 14, 2008

Verizon Adds 68 New Channels to FiOS TV Lineup – Including 53 in HD – for Fort Wayne Area Customers

by ssavage

FORT WAYNE, Ind., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon FiOS TV is now even better for customers in the Fort Wayne area as the company is launching 68 new channels, including 53 additional high-definition (HD) channels. FiOS TV customers in the area now have nearly 800 HD choices available at any time, with a total of 98 HD channels and more than 700 HD video-on-demand (VOD) titles offered each month.

As a result of this latest expansion of the FiOS TV lineup, Verizon is now offering consumers here more HD channels than the cable companies offer. Verizon will continue expanding its FiOS TV channel lineup this year, with a continued focus on HD content.

Verizon currently offers its FiOS services to more than 120,000 consumers in Allen County, including portions of Fort Wayne, Huntertown and New Haven.

To make FiOS TV even more compelling, Verizon is offering a year's free use of either an HD DVR (digital video recorder) or an HD Home Media DVR to consumers who sign up for FiOS TV between now and Oct. 31. With Verizon's unique Home Media DVR, customers can use one DVR to record programming that can be watched on up to six other TV sets in the home. This includes viewing up to three separately recorded programs simultaneously on different TV sets, and the ability to pause recorded programming on one set and continue watching it on another. FiOS TV's Home Media DVR is bundled with Media Manager, a feature that allows customers to access photos and music from their personal computers and play them on their TV.

Verizon is also offering new FiOS TV customers, or existing customers who upgrade to a bundled package, one free month of HBO and Cinemax, which includes more than 25 premium channels and access to hundreds of additional titles on VOD. New customers who take advantage of this offer will save between $200 and $260 the first year, depending upon the DVR customers choose.

"FiOS TV is the only service to consider if you want the ultimate HD experience," said Kathy Koelle, vice president of marketing and sales for Verizon's South/West region. "With our increased number of HD channels, along with HD video-on-demand programming and our current HD DVR and premium movie promotion, we're blowing cable away."

"The addition of new HD channels, along with new multicultural content and more, is part of our commitment to lead the industry in the scope and quality of our programming," said Koelle.

FiOS TV customers in the Fort Wayne area now have a total of 98 HD channels and get to see some of their favorite channels in HD, including Animal Planet, TLC, Science Channel and Smithsonian Channel. New HD programming that FiOS TV customers in the region now receive includes ABC Family, Disney Channel, FX, MGM HD, Speed and Toon Disney.

In addition, movie buffs now can get the Hallmark Movie Channel in HD as well as 12 new channels from HBO and nine from Cinemax in HD, plus FiOS TV's Movie Package, which now offers 13 new HD channels from The Movie Channel, Starz and Showtime, including The Movie Channel Xtra, Starz Edge, Starz Comedy, Starz Kids and Family, Showtime, Showtime Showcase, Showtime Extreme and Showtime 2.

Verizon also has launched four new HD sports channels: ESPNews HD, a 24-hour sports news television channel; The Tennis Channel, with comprehensive tennis coverage; World Fishing Network, which provides recreational and sport fishing enthusiasts with an entertaining and comprehensive lineup covering a wide range of programming; and Mav TV, a 24-hour network targeting men that features wrestling, fishing, roller derby and gaming.

New Multicultural Content

In addition to the new HD content, Verizon has launched 15 new standard-definition channels in the Fort Wayne area, with leading channels for Arabic, Portuguese and Russian audiences, among others. These new channels continue to make FiOS TV an outlet for emerging and independent networks to showcase their diverse programming.

Much of the multicultural content comes from World TV, a division of content management and delivery company GlobeCast, which previously signed a distribution deal with Verizon for top-tier international channels. The new GlobeCast World TV international television channels include MBT (Arabic), RTPI (Portuguese) and RTR Planeta (Russian). In addition to the World TV content, Verizon has launched the Filipino channel GMA Pinoy TV.

Verizon's FiOS TV service offers a broad collection of all-digital programming, with nearly 500 total channels and 11,000 video-on-demand titles, 70 percent of which are free. The VOD library also includes an increasing number of HD titles, and Verizon plans to have 1,000 HD VOD titles per month by the end of the year. FiOS TV is currently available to more than 7 million homes in 14 states. For more information on FiOS TV, visit http://www.verizon.com/fiostv. Consumers can also call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.

[Note: A complete channel lineup can be found online at http://www22.verizon.com/content/fiostv/channel+lineup/channel+lineup.htm .]

Verizon Communications Inc. , headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving nearly 69 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,600 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/.

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